Monday, May 12, 2014

I purchased some orzo last week to make Shrimp Orzo for Josh but needed a quick meal for the boys and myself one evening while Josh was at work: vegetable orzo is what I came up with!

Since I made this up on the fly the measurements are imprecise, but here's what I did:

Vegetable OrzoServes 1-21/2 T Butter1 c orzo1 c chicken broth1/4 onion, minced1 T garlic, minced1/2 c broccoli, chopped finely1/4 bell pepper, minced2 T feta cheeseMelt the butter on the stovetop in a small pot. Add orzo and lightly toast. Pour in the broth and simmer until the liquid is gone (just be careful it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot). Meanwhile, mix the vegetables and cheese in a small bowl. Stir in the orzo and serve!

When Josh got off work I made a batch for him and added mushrooms to the butter in the pot. I was out of smoked sundried tomatoes and pimentos -- they would have been really good in this as well! Some grilled chicken or sundered tomato chicken sausage would be a good addition too. I cut my veggies super small because I was serving it to Corban -- you can leave them bigger if you want.

Jeshua and Elias of course didn't eat it, but Corban, Josh and I loved it :)

My friend Amy asked me to be a vendor at Primrose School of Research Park's Spring Fling yesterday. Here are a few pictures and some new items we made this past week! Josh had to work so I only took two of our smallest pieces of furniture I could easily move myself :)

Friday, May 2, 2014

A few nights ago Jeshua asked for cheeseburgers for dinner. The only problem? I rarely have hamburger buns on hand. So I went on Pinterest to my Recipes board where I knew I had a homemade hamburger bun recipe pinned and planned to make them. The pin wasn't there :) No idea what happened, I assume I unpinned it. So I did a quick search for "hamburger bun recipes" and found this one for brioche buns.

I modified her recipe a bit based on the ingredients I had on hand. This recipe is one I will definitely make again!

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a liquid measuring cup combine one cup warm water (I put my room temp water in the microwave for 30 seconds), yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flour with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs (I just combined it with my mixer). Stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Knead until smooth and elastic (I used my dough hook and my stand mixer). You want the dough to remain slightly tacky.

3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.

4. Sprinkle cornmeal on a stoneware baking pan. Divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours. I really should decide what to make for dinner more than an hour in advance — I only let mine rise about 30 minutes instead of the recommended four hours and they turned out just fine. :)

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with seed mixture (I actually picked up the dough, dipped it in the egg and then in the seed mixture -- use more seeds than you think you'll need). Bake until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes (using my convection oven it took less). Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Tip for cutting the buns (don't remember where I read this) -- hold your serrated knife sideways and keep the bun level instead of turning the bun and cutting down -- it will cut more evenly.